If you're a first timer to Rome (like us), there's a big possibility that this might happen. Some drivers may rip you off.
From the Termini, we hailed a taxi to get to our hotel. We handed the driver a piece of paper with the hotel's address so it's clear. Having sensed that we had no idea of the place at all, he took advantage of it. He decided to take a longer route and as a result we had to pay him 23 EUROS for what could have been just a two minute drive.
Although along the way we sensed that something suspicious is going on, we we're not able to do anything or complain because we had no idea of the place. We told the hotel staff about it and they confirmed that we were indeed ripped off.
And in in fact, the termini was very close (4-5 minute walk) and there was a direct route.
I don't know what to do in this kind of situation but the hotel staff told us that next time, we should at least bring a map with us and show it to the taxi driver to determine the distance beforehand. But I'm not sure if that really helps. As the general tip would say try not to look or act like a tourist, maybe we should have pretended or acted as if we know the place but I don't know if we could carry it off. And I know for sure that even then drivers will know it if we fake it or not.
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on Jul 27, 2006
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